Major Pokémon Scarlet and Violet tournament proves why pros prefer this Arcanine form

Arcanine has been one of the best Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet VGC so far, but its newer Hisuian form is the one racking up win after win at recent events, including Lille Regionals this weekend. 

Just last weekend, we saw Hisuian Arcanine win Sacramento Regionals on a unique team with Kommo-o and Tyranitar piloted by Michael Zhang, but the Fire/Rock dog didn’t stop there. Hisuian Arcanine also happened to be the star of Simone Sanvito’s winning team in Lille, France this weekend, securing back-to-back regional wins in two very impressive showings.

So, if you were wondering which Arcanine form—Hisuian or regular—is currently better in VGC, the recent rise and success of the former prove why it has an edge over its original Gen I variant. And it comes down to two key factors.

Both Arcanine forms have the same base stat total of 555, but Hisuian Arcanine has the more optimal distribution. Rather than wasting stat points in Special Attack (that it never uses), Hisuian Arcanine has a slightly higher Attack than the regular form. This means it will be hitting even harder with Flare Blitz or Extreme Speed to help wear down or knock out opposing Pokémon.

On top of this, Hisuian Arcanine is a dual Fire/Rock-type Pokémon, unlike its standard pure Fire-type form. With its Rock typing, Hisuian Arcanine gains access to one of the best moves in VGC—Rock Slide. Rock Pokémon aren’t too common in the current meta, so our Hisuian dog is one of the few ‘mons that can really take advantage of STAB (same-type attack bonus) Rock Slide. And at 90 base Speed, it has the potential to outspeed foes and flinch them with the powerful Rock-type attack before they even have a chance to move.

And yes, Fire/Rock is a poor defensive typing with quad-weaknesses against Water and Ground attacks, but there’s an easy solution for that. Gen IX’s Terastallization mechanic conveniently allows Hisuian Arcanine to change its type to eliminate its biggest defensive weaknesses and/or power up its attacks. 

For example, Zhang’s supportive Hisuian Arcanine used the Water Tera Type purely for defensive purposes. Meanwhile, Sanvito’s more offensive build ran the Normal Tera Type to boost its Choice Banded Extreme Speed to maximize its damage output. Both options resulted in huge wins for everyone’s favorite dog Pokémon.

Following Sanvito’s victory with Hisuian Arcanine, fellow VGC players have been poking fun at the new Lille Regional champ, who previously stated he was “so unbelievably dogshit at a children’s videogame,” during the 2023 World Championships back in August.

With yet another impressive achievement added to his resume, Sanvito has now secured his invite to the 2024 World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii.